DREAM THEATER Keyboardist Talks About SampleWiz App (Video)

June 20, 2011

Jordan Rudess, the renowned classical pianist and keyboardist for progressive band DREAM THEATER, recently spoke to Byte TV editor Gina Smith about SampleWiz, the long-awaited follow-up to hit app MorphWiz from his own iPad and iPhone app development company, Wizdom Music. Rudess shows how SampleWiz lets sound enthusiasts play around with samples and even use the iPad as a musical instrument to play along with traditional ones. In studio, Rudess did an iPad jam with teamBYTE contributor and guitarist Jon Hoffberg, which you can see in the last three minutes of the video below.

"Sure, this is an instrument I just keep making instruments," Rudess said. "But SampleWiz is more it is something for the sonic explorer. Whether you're a synthesist who just wants to play with cool sounds or play with [the app's built-in] library of sounds or it's great for DJs and electronic musicians [who need sampling]."

Priced at around $10, the app has an easy interface that allows for classic sampling Rudess recorded Smith saying "Welcome back, Byte" and sampled that at different tones and rates. But the app goes deeper, overlapping, and sometimes exceeding, such mobile music apps as GarageBand and SampleToy. It allows you to bend between notes, sample at higher frequencies, retain speed, and dynamically control samples. Rudess says such features are useful. "DJs are going to freak out when they see this," he said, adding that SampleWiz will be available on iPhone and other mobile platforms later this year.

Find more on
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).